Samsung is preparing to release Galaxy Note 9 sometime in August, and we have a fair idea of what the phablet is going to offer. People in the rumor mill and Asian supply chain seem to be more excited about Samsung’s first 2019 flagship Galaxy S10. The S10 is expected to sport innovative technologies to celebrate 10th-anniversary of Samsung’s most successful smartphone brand. Fresh leaks suggest that the Galaxy S10 would feature an insanely fast processor and a ‘sound-emitting display.’

Galaxy S10 to be more powerful than 2018 iPhones?

Samsung traditionally launches two variants of its flagship phones – one powered by its own Exynos chips and another running Qualcomm’s Snapdragon processors. A report from reliable Twitter tipster Ice Universe indicates that at least the Exynos version of Galaxy S10 will be more powerful than Apple’s 2018 iPhones that would run the A12 chipset.

Exynos M4 has emerged, its performance will be far beyond Cortex-A76, but we expect it to have better energy efficiency. pic.twitter.com/xJkAQkrBx3

Samsung is getting better at designing custom chips with each passing year. Ice Universe points out that the Korean company’s new Exynos M4 could be much faster than ARM’s latest Cortex-A76 CPU. Folks at SamMobile noted that the Mongoose M4 performance core in the next year’s Exynos 9820 chipset would have a clock speed of more than 3.30GHz. The Cortex-A76 has a maximum clock speed of 3.30Ghz.

SamMobile estimates that the Exynos 9820 chip with its M4 performance core could cross a multi-core score of 13,000 on Geekbench. By comparison, the Galaxy S9 Plus received a multi-core score of 8700 on Geekbench while the iPhone X with its A11 Bionic chip topped 10,000. Both the Exynos 9820 and Snapdragon 855 chips are rumored to be manufactured using the 7nm process technology.

It’s worth pointing out that benchmark scores don’t always give a clear picture of real-life performance. The iPhone X could be the world’s most powerful smartphone on paper, but the Galaxy S9 Plus and OnePlus 6 perform better in real-life tests.

Here’s how the ‘sound-emitting’ display could work

In related news, Korean site ETNews has learned from supply chain sources that the Galaxy S10 could feature a ‘sound-emitting display’ in an attempt to get rid of the earpiece and increase the screen real estate. Samsung Display is developing an OLED display that will emit sound. The current Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus have thin bezels at the top and bottom. The top bezel accommodates the front camera, earpiece, and other sensors.

If Samsung adds the sound-emitting display to the Galaxy S10, customers will be able to use the display for hearing purposes. You’ll have to place the phone against your ears like you do with your current phone to hear the other person on call. SamMobile explains that the new display panel will use bone conduction and vibration to transmit sound in the 100 ~ 8000Hz range. You’ll be able to hear the other person only when your ear is pressed against the top half of the phone.

The Galaxy S10’s display will still not be fully bezel-less because the front camera, iris scanner, and other sensors will still be there. Ice Universe has reported previously that the S10 would have a screen-to-body ratio of 94%, up from 83.6% on the Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus.

Other rumored Galaxy S10 specs

According to the rumor mill, the Galaxy S10 will have an ultrasonic fingerprint sensor placed under the display. It will allow users to unlock the device by placing their finger on the screen. The Korean company will reportedly source the ultrasonic fingerprint sensors from Qualcomm. The S10 is also said to have a 3D depth-sensing technology for advanced facial recognition and augmented reality. Samsung is working with Mantis Vision to integrate the 3D sensor with the camera module.

The S10 and S10 Plus will likely have the same 5.8-inch and 6.3-inch Super AMOLED panels with an 18.5:9 aspect ratio as their predecessors. The Bell claims Samsung has already finalized the S10 design, even though the phone is more than six months away. According to Ice Universe, it will have a display resolution of more than 600ppi, much higher than the iPhone X’s 458ppi.

The Galaxy S10 is expected to offer at least 6GB RAM, 64GB storage, a microSD card slot, an IP68 rating for water-resistance, and wireless charging. Recently, KB Securities analyst Kim Dong-won told clients that the Galaxy S10 would feature a triple camera system on the back to compete with Huawei’s P20 Pro. The analyst didn’t mention how Samsung would use the third camera.

DJ Koh, Samsung’s mobile business head, has indicated that the company could launch Galaxy S10 under a new name. He said Samsung would keep the Galaxy brand, but it could change the ‘S’ moniker and the numbering pattern. The phone is internally code-named ‘Beyond.’

Samsung is expected to launch the Galaxy S10 and S10 Plus at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January next year. The Korean company usually unveils new Galaxy S phones in February/March around the Mobile World Congress (MWC). But it is reportedly keeping the next year’s MWC for its foldable phone, so the Galaxy S10 should launch sooner than usual.

Author: Vikas ShuklaAlthough he has a background in finance and holds an MBA, Vikas Shukla is a technology reporter. He has a strong interest in gadgets, gizmos, and science. He writes regularly on these topics. - He can be contacted by email at vshukla@valuewalk.com